69. The Brain Responds Uniquely To People You Know Personally

Scenario

Your aunt invited you to a party. There are friends and relatives you know there. There are also strangers. You are having conversation with more familiar and unfamiliar people and find that you have more in common with some strangers than you do your own family. There are four possible connections that could happen at this party. 

Common (binary/octet-stream)

Caption: : Recreated from "100 Things Every Designers Needs to Know About Humans" by Susan M. Weinschenk, Ph.D.

So What Does This Mean?

Fenna Krienen researched these connections.  She wanted to know if your brain reacts differently to the four combinations. She also wanted to know if you base judgments on people depending if they are similar to you or if they are a close friend or relative.  In her research she found that when people answered questions about their friends or family, whether or not they were similar to them, the medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC) was active. The MPFC is the area of the brain that perceives value and regulates social behavior. When people answered and thought about someone they didn't know, but still had commonalities with, the MPFC was not active. 

Conclusion

Social Media can differ depending on if it something like Facebook that has information about family and friends, or LinkedIn that has information about jobs and careers. You may have to distinguish which social media should be used for which groups of people.  Humans are programmed to pay more attention to family and friends.